Fatal Strike (McClouds & Friends #10)(129)

She couldn’t get into the Citadel.

She kept trying. She was exhausted, but aching for the comfort, the closeness, the sense of safety. To say nothing of being able to talk to him without having to use her lungs, her muscles.

But she couldn’t find her way in. Maybe because she was hurt, stressed, her concentration shot. She studied his grim face, his set mouth. Heard sirens wailing faintly in the distance. “Miles,” she said.

“Don’t talk. You have to rest.”

She touched his arm. “What happens now?”

“The EMTs are coming,” Miles said. “So are the police. We’ll tell them what we know. And warn them about that.” He jerked his chin toward the beaker, still sitting there, gleaming in the pale gray light of morning. “They’ll take it from there.”

It sounded bland and normal and reasonable enough, but dread and fear built inside her anyway. “And us? Will you stay with me?”

He looked toward the ambulance coming up the drive, and the red and blue lights flashed rhythmically across his face. “You’ll go to the hospital, of course. Get yourself patched up.”

“And you’ll stay with me there?”

“No, Lara,” he said. “They’re going to arrest me.”

She jerked up onto her elbows, and sank back down with a cry of pain. “What the f*ck are you talking about?”

“I’m a wanted man. And this mess, these bodies, it does not look good. It’ll take them a while to work it out. I expect they’ll lock me up in the meantime. I would, if I were them.”

“But you didn’t do anything wrong!” she wailed.

“Shhh,” he soothed. “I know that, and you know that, but Greaves framed me for some very scary shit, and it’s going to take some time to sort it out. But I will. Of course, I will. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

“Okay? In police custody? How can you say that?”

She tried again to get into the Citadel, and it hit her, all of a sudden, like a slap. The doors, the spaces she usually slipped through. They were deliberately closed. Dear God. He’d done it on purpose.

Hurt jangled loud inside her. “You locked me out,” she whispered.

He would not meet her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Utter betrayal threatened to engulf her completely. “You changed the password on me? Now? Of all times?”

“It’s better this way. At least until we work things out.”

Blue and red lights pulsed. Car doors slammed, people were shouting, running. She couldn’t look away from his dark, intent gaze.

“How could you do this?” she whispered.

“With difficulty. Sometimes you’ve just got to do the hard thing.”

She wanted to tell him exactly where he could put his hard thing, but her ability to speak had broken down. No more complex concepts or phrases. She was down to single-word epithets.

“Bastard,” she whispered.

She fell backward, still staring at him as she tumbled down into that bottomless well.





30


Ten weeks later

Seattle





“You want some hot mulled cider? It’s freezing out here.” The gentle voice made Lara turn from her contemplation of the whitecapped surface of Lake Washington. Davy and Margot McCloud’s house on the water had an awesome view from their back porch. It soothed her to stare at the expanse of water. The sight was cooling to her hot, reddened eyes.

She tried to smile reassuringly into Nina’s worried gaze, and took the hot mug, just to make her friend feel better. “I’m fine, but thanks.”

“You shouldn’t be out in the cold,” Nina fussed. “You’re delicate.”

“Not anymore,” she reminded her friend. “I’m all healed up. And my coat is really warm.”

She was shivering, truth be told, even in the big, military wool coat. It was similar to the one Miles had bought for her at the thrift store, those many weeks ago, except that it fit somewhat better than the original. She’d bought it at a vintage store in a moment of nostalgia to replace the one soaked in the bloodbath. Fortunately, neither Nina nor any of her other friends knew of this pathetic past wardrobe detail.

“Please, come back inside?” Nina coaxed. “Aaro is fretting about you, and they’re almost ready to serve dinner.”

Lara turned to look at the big picture window, and waved at the array of kids peering through it, ranging in age from eleven to barely standing. They waved back, with assorted gap-toothed grins. Behind them, the room was full of adults talking, shooting surreptitious glances that slid quickly away from her. People she’d met at the safe house, their spouses, their numerous offspring, and more besides.

Nice people. Welcoming, warm, intelligent, helpful, concerned for her. But she was still having a hard time enduring crowds of any kind, even good and worthy ones. Being profoundly miserable did not help.

Davy McCloud was seated on the couch inside, just a couple of weeks out of the hospital and much better, though he still had some problems with head pain. He’d lost a good bit of his massive muscular bulk, and looked a lot more like his longer, leaner brother Connor than he did before. Connor was sitting next to him, hovering protectively. Tam and Val were there, with little Irina perched in the crook of her father’s arm, playing with his long hair. Their older daughter, Rachel, was leading the other kids in some raucous game. Seth was there, the guy who had tried to courier her a new identity, accompanied by his wife, the beautiful silver-blond Raine, and their kids—older son Jesse and the toddler twins, Chris and Mattie. Kev was there with Edie, whose pregnancy was now visible to the naked eye, and Sean’s wife Liv had announced that she was three months along with their second kid on that very day. Bruno and Lily Ranieri were there, with their boisterous brood. They were all so nice, with their beautiful, burgeoning families. So goddamn happy.